Page 2 of Pugs & Kisses

And, just like that, a huge piece of the puzzle fell into place.

“The broken tibia,” Evie said.

“What?” Cameron asked.

Last Halloween, Angelique James had arrived at the veterinary clinic with her son Mychal and Spanky, their Jack Russell terrier.

The dog had gotten into the Halloween candy before the family had the chance to welcome any trick-or-treaters.

While they were still waiting to be seen, one of the vet techs brought the Edwards’s bullmastiff into the lobby, and at the sight of the huge dog, Mychal had run like the hounds of hell were at his heels.

He’d slipped on the tiled floor and let out a cry that Evie could still hear to this day.

Cameron had embodied Superman, the character he’d dressed up as for the holiday, swooping in and carting Mychal and his mother to the emergency room at Children’s Hospital.

The eight-year-old had broken his tibia.

And, to Cameron’s relief, his mother had not considered suing the veterinary practice.

“You met her when you brought Mychal James to the ER last Halloween,” Evie told him. “Was she his nurse?”

“Ev—”

She put her hand up. “I don’t care. Just leave.” That painful lump had returned to her throat, and it pissed her off.

Cameron dropped his head back and sighed up at the ceiling. The condescending sound had her reconsidering jail time. Maybe it was worth it.

“Where am I supposed to go?” Cameron asked.

“Do you think I give a fuck?” Evie yelled. A dull ache began to throb at her temples. She rubbed them with her thumbs. “I’m sure your little girlfriend has a nice enough bed. Go there.”

The bastard had the audacity to look annoyed. With her! As if she had somehow inconvenienced him by catching him in bed with another woman.

Evie had never had to fight so hard against the urge to commit bodily harm.

Without another word, Cameron grabbed the keys to his Mercedes S-Class and left through the same side door his girlfriend had used.

Only now did it occur to Evie that she hadn’t seen his car parked on the street.

Finding a spot in this neighborhood could get dicey in the evenings, but there was ample parking during the middle of the day.

If his trip home had been as innocent as he’d claimed, there would be no reason for him not to park in front of the house.

“That cheating son of a bitch must have parked on one of the other streets and walked.”

She didn’t care enough to follow him and find out.

An oppressive exhaustion came over her. Evie stood in the middle of the open-plan living area, unsure of what to do next. It all looked the same, but everything felt different. Tainted. She hated feeling this way about a place she loved so much.

She’d bought the house from her grandmother three years ago, when she and Cameron were going through one of their “off” periods.

There had been three of those during their ten-year relationship.

She had moved out of Cam’s one-bedroom condo with a vow never to take him back.

With her grandmother’s blessing, Evie had gutted this house, renovating nearly every inch.

She sometimes regretted the decision to renovate, but not today. She didn’t want memories of what had just transpired to mar the sweet memories she had of this house back when Rita Mayeaux still lived here.

Her grandmother would have cut Cameron’s dick off. No question about it.

Evie closed her eyes tight and covered her face with her hands.

Cameron was right; she shouldn’t even be here.

She should be at her friend Ashanti Wright’s doggy daycare, Barkingham Palace, where Evie worked as the in-house veterinarian several afternoons a week.

But she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue with her workday—not in the state she was in.

She couldn’t even remember what she had come home to pick up; to examine anyone’s pet in her current condition would be tantamount to professional negligence.

There was one thing she must do. And right now.

She stalked out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. She plopped her hands on her hips and stared at the scene of Cameron’s betrayal. Maybe if she washed the sheets in really hot water and added an entire bottle of laundry sanitizer they would be okay?

“No, they won’t,” Evie said.

She stripped the sheets from the bed and carried them outside to the ninety-six-gallon trash receptacle.

Garbage collection had taken place this morning.

If she had been paying close enough attention, it would have registered that the garbage bin was in its spot next to the side steps and not at the curb where she’d dragged it before leaving this morning.

Cameron must have brought it in prior to screwing the nurse.

There were always signs. She just hadn’t looked close enough.

As she made her way back inside the house, Evie’s steps faltered as reality set in. Her world had changed. It had cracked and shattered right here on her grandmother’s polished hardwood floors, the one thing she had not stripped from the house.

She dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged, burying her face in her hands and fighting against the onslaught of emotions that threatened to suffocate her.

What was she supposed to do now? There was no way she could continue working at the practice. It provided access to too many sharp objects, and as of an hour ago, she had developed a penchant for violence she hadn’t thought herself capable of.

But where else can you go?

She had only ever worked at Maple Street Animal Clinic, the veterinary practice Cameron’s father had opened forty years ago and, after retiring, had passed on to his youngest son.

Evie had joined Cam at the practice the week after she finished vet school.

She had continued to work there even after their last breakup.

It had been a delicate, two-month-long exercise of walking on eggshells while around each other and engaging in perfunctory conversion when warranted.

But that wouldn’t work this time. There was no way she could practice alongside Cameron. Not after this. He’d crossed her red line. He knew infidelity was the one thing she could never, ever forgive.

Evie threw her head back and screamed at the ceiling.

“My God, Cam, how could you do this to me?”

She’d put more of herself into this relationship than he deserved.

Putting her own reputation on the line when a patient sued him for negligence, even though she was never sure if she believed his account of what happened that day.

Forgiving him when she learned he’d racked up over a hundred thousand dollars in credit card debt—and helping him pay it off.

Always making concessions for what he wanted to do, where he wanted to travel, how he wanted to live!

And how had he repaid her? By fucking another woman in their bed.

Evie pressed her fist to her lips. The anger and hurt tightening her chest made it difficult to breathe.

“How could you hurt me like this, Cameron?” she whispered.

She doubted she would ever get an answer. Not that the answer mattered. She was done.